Morris Park Station

About this property

The Morris Park station is a station on the IRT Dyre Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at Paulding Avenue and the Esplanade in Morris Park, Bronx, it is served by the 5 train at all times. The station opened on May 29, 1912, as a local station of the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway (NYW&B), a subsidiary of the New York, New Haven and Hartford. The line was designed for the weight of the heaviest mainline steam trains. The NYW&B offered frequent service between 138th Street in the South Bronx and White Plains and Port Chester in Westchester County. The White Plains and Port Chester branches diverged at Mount Vernon Junction near Columbus Avenue along the boundary between Mount Vernon and Pelham. The two outer tracks at Morris Park were for trains that made local stops in the Bronx, and went to Port Chester. The two inner tracks were for express trains that made limited stops in the Bronx, and went to White Plains. The trains were powered by 11,000 Volt 25 Hz alternating current supplied from an overhead catenary. The cut-off stumps of the catenary bridges remain along the right of way and can be seen from the south ends of the platforms. Service ended on December 12, 1937, following the bankruptcy of the NYW&B. The New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) bought the NYW&B within the Bronx north of East 180th Street in April 1940 for $1.8 million and rehabilitated the line. On May 15, 1941, a shuttle service was implemented between Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street using IRT gate cars. The Dyre Avenue Line was connected directly to the White Plains Road Line north of East 180th Street for $3 million with a flying junction and through service began on May 6, 1957. Between 1954 and 1961, ridership on the line increased by 100 percent, owing to the development of the northeast Bronx. On February 27, 1962, the New York City Transit Authority announced a $700,000 modernization plan of the Dyre Avenue Line. The plan included the reconstruction of the Dyre Avenue station, and the extension of the platforms of the other four stations on the line, including Morris Park, to 525 feet (160 m) to accommodate ten-car trains. At the time, the line was served by 9-car trains during the day, and 3-car shuttles overnight. The platforms at Morris Park were extended towards the south, requiring a reduction in the height of the outboard plate girders of the bridge over Colden Avenue so that the bottoms of the platforms would be above the tops of the girders. The massive overdesign of the bridge allowed ample margin for trimming the girders. On November 24, 1979, an R22 car, #7602, was involved in a rear-ending accident here.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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